The decision ruled on the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. This case led to a de factomoratorium on capital punishment throughout the United States, which came to an end when Gregg v. Georgia was decided in 1976 to allow the death penalty.

The Supreme Court consolidated Jackson v. Georgia and Branch v. Texas with the Furman decision, thereby invalidating the death penalty for rape (this ruling was confirmed post-Gregg in Coker v. Georgia). The Court had also intended to include the case of Aikens v. California, but between the time Aikens had been heard in oral argument and a decision was to be issued, the Supreme Court of California decided in California v. Anderson that the death penalty violated the state constitution. The Aikens case was dismissed as moot since all death sentences in California were reduced to life imprisonment.

Contents

In the Furman v. Georgia case, the resident awoke in the middle of the night to find William Henry Furman committing burglary in his house. At trial, in an unsworn statement allowed under Georgia criminal procedure, Furman said that while trying to escape, he tripped and the weapon he was carrying fired accidentally, killing the victim. This contradicted his prior statement to police that he had turned and blindly fired a shot while fleeing. In either event, because the shooting occurred during the commission of a felony, Furman would have been guilty of murder and eligible for the death penalty under then-extant state law, according to the felony murder rule. Furman was tried for murder and was found guilty based largely on his own statement. Although he was sentenced to death, the punishment was never carried out.

Jackson v. Georgia, like Furman, was also a death penalty case confirmed by the Supreme Court of Georgia. Unlike Furman, however, the convicted man in Jackson had not killed anyone, but attempted to commit armed robbery and committed rape in the process of doing so. Branch v. Texas was brought to the Supreme Court of the United States on appeal on certiorari to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Like Jackson, Branch was convicted of rape.[2]

In a 5–4 decision, the Court's one-paragraph per curiam opinion held that the imposition of the death penalty in these cases constituted cruel and unusual punishment and violated the Constitution.[3] However, the majority could not agree as to a rationale. There was no opinion of the court or plurality as none of the five justices constituting the majority joined in the opinion of any other.

Justices Potter Stewart, Byron White and William O. Douglas expressed similar concerns about the apparent arbitrariness with which death sentences were imposed under the existing laws, often indicating a racial bias against black defendants. Because these opinions were the narrowest, finding only that the death penalty as currently applied was cruel and unusual, they are often considered the controlling majority opinions. Stewart wrote:

These death sentences are cruel and unusual in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and unusual. For, of all the people convicted of rapes and murders in 1967 and 1968, many just as reprehensible as these, the petitioners are among a capriciously selected random handful upon whom the sentence of death has in fact been imposed. My concurring Brothers have demonstrated that, if any basis can be discerned for the selection of these few to be sentenced to death, it is the constitutionally impermissible basis of race [see McLaughlin v. Florida, 379 U.S. 184 (1964)]. But racial discrimination has not been proved, and I put it to one side. I simply conclude that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments cannot tolerate the infliction of a sentence of death under legal systems that permit this unique penalty to be so wantonly and so freakishly imposed.

Justices William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall concluded that the death penalty was in itself "cruel and unusual punishment," and incompatible with the evolving standards of decency of a contemporary society.

The Furman decision caused all death sentences pending at the time to be reduced to life imprisonment, and it was described by scholars as a "legal bombshell."[4] The next day, columnist Barry Schweid wrote that it was "unlikely" that the death penalty could exist anymore in the United States.[5]

The Court's decision forced states and the U.S. Congress to rethink their statutes for capital offenses to ensure that the death penalty would not be administered in a capricious or discriminatory manner.[6]

In the following four years, 37 states enacted new death penalty laws aimed at overcoming the court's concerns about arbitrary imposition of the death penalty. Several statutes that mandated bifurcated trials, with separate guilt-innocence and sentencing phases, and imposing standards to guide the discretion of juries and judges in imposing capital sentences, were upheld in a series of Supreme Court decisions in 1976, led by Gregg v. Georgia. Other statutes enacted in response to Furman, such as Louisiana's which mandated imposition of the death penalty upon conviction of a certain crime, were struck down in cases of that same year.

He served in North Africa during Operation Torch and was assigned to the Headquarters of the Northwest African Air Forces. There, Powell served in Sicily during the Allied invasion of Sicily, in August 1943, he was assigned to the Intelligence staff of the Army Air Forces in Washington, D. C. Slated for assignment as an instructor at the facility near Harrisburg and he was assigned to the Intelligence staff of the Department of War and the Intelligence staff of United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe. Powell was assigned to the Ultra project, as one of the designated to monitor the use of intercepted Axis communications. He advanced through the ranks to Colonel, and received the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal and he was discharged in October 1945. In 1941, Powell served as Chairman of the American Bar Associations Young Lawyers Division, Powell was a partner for over a quarter of a century at Hunton, Gay and Gibson, a large Virginia law firm, with its primary office in Richmond. Powell practiced primarily in the areas of law and in railway litigation law.

He had been a member of Philip Morris from 1964 until his court appointment in 1971 and had acted as a contact point for the tobacco industry with the Virginia Commonwealth University. Through his law firm, Powell represented the Tobacco Institute and various companies in numerous law cases. Powell served as Chair of the American Bar Associations Standing Committee on the Economics of Law Practice from 1961 to 1962, during his tenure as Chair of the Committee, The Lawyers Handbook was first published and distributed to all attorneys who joined the ABA that year

The Court first convened on February 2,1790, by which five of its six initial positions had been filled. According to historian Fergus Bordewich, in its first session, he Supreme Court convened for the first time at the Royal Exchange Building on Broad Street and they had no cases to consider. After a week of inactivity, they adjourned until September, the sixth member was not confirmed until May 12,1790. Because the full Court had only six members, every decision that it made by a majority was made by two-thirds. However, Congress has always allowed less than the Courts full membership to make decisions, under Chief Justices Jay and Ellsworth, the Court heard few cases, its first decision was West v. Barnes, a case involving a procedural issue. The Courts power and prestige grew substantially during the Marshall Court, the Marshall Court ended the practice of each justice issuing his opinion seriatim, a remnant of British tradition, and instead issuing a single majority opinion. Also during Marshalls tenure, although beyond the Courts control, the impeachment, the Taney Court made several important rulings, such as Sheldon v.

Nevertheless, it is primarily remembered for its ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford, which helped precipitate the Civil War. In the Reconstruction era, the Chase and Fuller Courts interpreted the new Civil War amendments to the Constitution, during World War II, the Court continued to favor government power, upholding the internment of Japanese citizens and the mandatory pledge of allegiance. Nevertheless, Gobitis was soon repudiated, and the Steel Seizure Case restricted the pro-government trend, the Warren Court dramatically expanded the force of Constitutional civil liberties. It held that segregation in public schools violates equal protection and that traditional legislative district boundaries violated the right to vote

Graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1938, he won a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford in England, after deferring it for a year to play pro football, he attended Hertford College, Oxford. During this time in England, he acquainted with Joe and John Kennedy. As a senior, White led Colorado to an undefeated 8–0 regular season in 1937 and he was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, behind Yale quarterbackClint Frank, and played basketball and baseball at CU. The basketball team advanced to the finals of the inaugural National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden in March 1938, White had originally planned to attend Oxford in 1938 and not play pro football. He was selected fourth overall in the 1938 NFL draft, held in December 1937, by the NFLs Pittsburgh Pirates, Oxford allowed White to delay his start to early 1939, so he accepted the Pittsburgh offer in August and played the 1938 season in the NFL. He led the league in rushing as a 21-year-old rookie and was its highest-paid player and he sailed to England in early 1939, with the intent of staying for three years.

With the outbreak of World War II in late summer, White returned to the United States and he was admitted to Yale Law School in early October 1939, a week after classes began, and played for the Detroit Lions in 1940 and 1941. In three NFL seasons, he played in 33 games and he led the league in rushing yards in 1938 and 1940, and he was one of the first big money NFL players, making US$15,000 per year. His NFL career was cut short when he entered the U. S. Navy in 1942, after the war and he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954. During the war, White served as an officer in the U. S. Navy. He had originally wanted to join the Marines, but was out due to being colorblind

Warren Earl Burger was the 15th Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Although Burger was a conservative, and the U. S. Warren Earl Burger was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1907 and his parents and Charles Joseph Burger, a traveling salesman and railroad cargo inspector, were of Austrian German descent. His grandfather, Joseph Burger, had emigrated from Tyrol, Joseph Burger fought and was wounded in the Civil War, resulting in the loss of his right arm and was awarded the Medal of Honor at the age of 14. Joseph Burger by age 16 became the youngest Captain in the Union Army, Burger grew up on the family farm near the edge of Saint Paul. He attended John A. Johnson High School, where he was president of the student council and he competed in hockey, football and swimming. While in high school, he wrote articles on school sports for local newspapers. That same year, Burger worked with the building the Robert Street Bridge. Concerned about the number of deaths on the project, he asked that a net be installed to catch anyone who fell, in years, Burger made a point of visiting the bridge whenever he came back to town.

Burger attended night school at the University of Minnesota while selling insurance for Mutual Life Insurance, afterward, he enrolled at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, receiving his degree magna cum laude in 1931. He took a job at the firm of Boyensen and Faricy, now known as Moore, in 1937, Burger served as the eighth president of the Saint Paul Jaycees. He taught for years at William Mitchell. His political career began uneventfully, but he rose to national prominence. He supported Minnesota Governor Harold E. Stassens unsuccessful pursuit of the Republican nomination for President in 1948, in 1952, at the Republican convention, he played a key role in Dwight D. Eisenhowers nomination by delivering the Minnesota delegation. After he was elected, President Eisenhower appointed Burger as the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division of the Justice Department, in this role, he first argued in front of the Supreme Court. The case involved John P. Peters, a Yale University professor who worked as a consultant to the government and he had been discharged from his position on loyalty grounds.

After his resignation, he was issued a pardon by his successor, in retirement, Nixons work writing several books and undertaking of many foreign trips helped to rehabilitate his image. He suffered a stroke on April 18,1994. Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9,1913 in Yorba Linda and his parents were Hannah Nixon and Francis A. Nixon. His mother was a Quaker and his father converted from Methodism to the Quaker faith, Nixons upbringing was marked by evangelical Quaker observances of the time, such as refraining from alcohol and swearing. Nixon had four brothers, Donald, four of the five Nixon boys were named after kings who had ruled in historical or legendary England, for example, was named after Richard the Lionheart. Nixons early life was marked by hardship, and he quoted a saying of Eisenhower to describe his boyhood, We were poor. The Nixon family ranch failed in 1922, and the moved to Whittier

He married Dorothy Clark in 1941 and had three daughters with her, Nancy and Susan, between 1950 and 1959, Blackmun served as resident counsel for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He would describe his time at Mayo as his happiest time, in the late 1950s, Blackmuns close friend Warren E. Burger, an appellate judge on the D. C. Circuit, repeatedly encouraged Blackmun to seek a judgeship, Sanborn, Jr. of the Eighth Circuit, whom Blackmun had clerked for after graduating from Harvard, told Blackmun of his plans to assume senior status. He said that he would suggest Blackmuns name to the Eisenhower administration if Blackmun wished to succeed him, after much urging by Sanborn and Burger, Blackmun agreed to accept the nomination, duly offered by Eisenhower and members of the Justice Department. Over the next decade, Blackmun would author 217 opinions for the Eighth Circuit, Blackmun was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Richard M. Nixon on April 14,1970, and was confirmed by the Senate on May 12,1970, by a 94–0 vote.

He received his commission on May 14,1970, Blackmun was Nixons third choice to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Abe Fortas on May 14,1969. His confirmation followed contentious battles over two previous, failed nominations forwarded by Nixon in 1969–1970, those of Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell, Nixons original choice, Lewis F. Powell, Jr. turned him down but joined the Court in 1972. Blackmun, a lifelong Republican, was expected to adhere to an interpretation of the Constitution. The Courts Chief Justice at the time, Warren Burger, a friend of Blackmuns. The two were referred to as the Minnesota Twins because of their common history in Minnesota. Indeed, Blackmun voted with Burger in 87.5 percent of the divided cases during his first five terms, and with William J. Brennan

Stewart served in World War II as a member of the U. S. Naval Reserve aboard oil tankers, in 1943 he married Mary Ann Bertles in a ceremony at Bruton Episcopal Church in Williamsburg, Virginia. They eventually had a daughter and two sons, Potter, Jr. and David and he was in private practice with Dinsmore & Shohl in Cincinnati. During the early 1950s, he was elected to the Cincinnati City Council, at the age of 39, in 1954, he was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower nominated Stewart to the Supreme Court to replace Justice Harold Hitz Burton and he was a recess appointment in 1958 before being confirmed 70–17 by the United States Senate on May 5,1959. All 17 nay votes came from Southern Democrats, Stewart came to a Supreme Court controlled by two warring ideological camps and sat firmly in its center. A case early in his Supreme Court career showing his role as the vote during that time is Irvin v. Dowd. Stewart was temperamentally inclined to moderate, pragmatic positions, but was often in a dissenting posture during his time on the Warren Court.

Before the appointment of Warren Burger as Chief Justice, many speculated that President Richard Nixon would elevate Stewart to the post, though flattered by the suggestion, did not want again to appear before—and expose his family to—the Senate confirmation process. Nor did he relish the prospect of taking on the administrative responsibilities delegated to the Chief Justice, accordingly, he met privately with the president to ask that his name be removed from consideration. Stewart opposed the Vietnam War and on a number of occasions urged the Supreme Court to grant certiorari on cases challenging the constitutionality of the war, Stewart consistently voted against claims of criminal defendants in the area of federal habeas corpus and collateral review. He was concerned about broad interpretations of the due process and equal protection clauses and he was the lone dissenter in the landmark juvenile law case In re Gault. That case extended to minors the right to be informed of rights and the right to an attorney, Justice Stewart went on to defend the movie in question against further censorship

The United States Reports are the official record of the rulings, case tables, and other proceedings of the Supreme Court of the United States. Opinions of the court in each case, prepended with a prepared by the Reporter of Decisions. For lawyers, citations to United States Reports are the reference for Supreme Court decisions. Following Bluebook, a commonly accepted citation protocol, the case Brown, et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, for example, would be cited as, Brown v. Bd. of Educ. The early volumes of the United States Reports were originally published privately by the individual Supreme Court Reporters, as was the practice in England, the reports were designated by the names of the reporters who compiled them, Dallass Reports, Cranchs Reports, etc. The decisions appearing in the entire first volume and most of the volume of United States Reports are not decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Instead, they are decisions from various Pennsylvania courts, dating from the colonial period, alexander Dallas, a lawyer and journalist, of Philadelphia, had been in the business of reporting these cases for newspapers and periodicals.

He subsequently began compiling his case reports in a bound volume and this would come to be known as the first volume of Dallas Reports. Dallas continued to collect and publish Pennsylvania decisions in a volume of his Reports. When the Supreme Court began hearing cases, he added those cases to his reports, starting towards the end of the volume,2 Dallas Reports. Dallas went on to publish a total of four volumes of decisions during his tenure as Reporter, when the Supreme Court moved to Washington, D. C. in 1800, Dallas remained in Philadelphia, and William Cranch took over as unofficial reporter of decisions. In 1817, Congress made the Reporter of Decisions an official, salaried position, in 1874, the U. S. government began to fund the reports publication, creating the United States Reports. The earlier, private reports were retroactively numbered volumes 1–90 of the United States Reports, decisions appearing in these early reports have dual citation forms, one for the volume number of the United States Reports, and one for the set of nominate reports.

Burglary is an unlawful entry into a building or other location for the purposes of committing an offence. Usually that offence is theft, but most jurisdictions include others within the ambit of burglary, to engage in the act of burglary is to burgle or to burglarize. Breaking can be actual, such as by forcing open a door, or constructive. Breaking does not require that anything be broken in terms of damage occurring. Entering can involve either physical entry by a person, or the insertion of an instrument to remove property, insertion of a tool to gain entry may not constitute entering by itself. Note that there must be a breaking and an entering for common law burglary, breaking without entry or entry without breaking is not sufficient for common law burglary. Although rarely listed as an element, the law required that entry occur as a consequence of the breaking. For example, if a wrongdoer partially opens a window with a pry bar—but notices an open door, the use of the pry bar would not constitute an entry even if a portion of the prybar entered the residence.

Under the instrumentality rule the use of an instrument to effect a breaking would not constitute an entry, however, if any part of the perpetrators body entered the residence in an attempt to gain entry, the instrumentality rule did not apply. The use of the word “therein” adds nothing and certainly does not limit the scope of burglary to those wrongdoers who break, the situs of the felony does not matter, and burglary occurs if the wrongdoer intended to commit a felony at the time he broke and entered. The common law elements of burglary often vary between jurisdictions, the etymology originates from Anglo-Saxon or Old English, one of the Germanic languages. According to one textbook, The word burglar comes from the two German words burg, meaning house, and laron, meaning thief, the British verb burgle is a late back-formation. In Canada and entering is prohibited by section 348 of the Criminal Code and is a hybrid offence and entering is defined as trespassing with intent to commit an indictable offence.

The crime is commonly referred to in Canada as break and enter, there is no crime of burglary as such in Finland. However, if theft is committed during unlawful entering, a person is guilty of theft or aggravated depending on the circumstances of the felony. In Sweden, burglary does not exist as an offence in itself, instead, if a person simply breaks into any premise, they are technically guilty of either unlawful intrusion or breach of domiciliary peace, depending on the premise in question. Breach of domiciliary peace is only when a person unlawfully intrudes or remains where another has his living quarters. The only punishments available for any of these offences are fines, in such cases, the maximum punishment is two years imprisonment

Georgia is a state in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1733, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies, named after King George II of Great Britain, Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2,1788. It declared its secession from the Union on January 19,1861 and it was the last state to be restored to the Union, on July 15,1870. Georgia is the 24th largest and the 8th most populous of the 50 United States, from 2007 to 2008,14 of Georgias counties ranked among the nations 100 fastest-growing, second only to Texas. Georgia is known as the Peach State and the Empire State of the South, Atlanta is the states capital, its most populous city and has been named a global city. Georgia is bordered to the south by Florida, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean and South Carolina, to the west by Alabama, the states northern part is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountains system. Georgias highest point is Brasstown Bald at 4,784 feet above sea level, Georgia is the largest state entirely east of the Mississippi River in land area.

Before settlement by Europeans, Georgia was inhabited by the mound building cultures, the British colony of Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe on February 12,1733. The colony was administered by the Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America under a charter issued by King George II. The Trustees implemented a plan for the colonys settlement, known as the Oglethorpe Plan. In 1742 the colony was invaded by the Spanish during the War of Jenkins Ear, in 1752, after the government failed to renew subsidies that had helped support the colony, the Trustees turned over control to the crown. Georgia became a colony, with a governor appointed by the king. The Province of Georgia was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution by signing the 1776 Declaration of Independence, the State of Georgias first constitution was ratified in February 1777. Georgia was the 10th state to ratify the Articles of Confederation on July 24,1778, in 1829, gold was discovered in the North Georgia mountains, which led to the Georgia Gold Rush and an established federal mint in Dahlonega, which continued its operation until 1861.

LexisNexis Group is a corporation providing computer-assisted legal research as well as business research and risk management services. During the 1970s, LexisNexis pioneered the electronic accessibility of legal, as of 2006, the company has the worlds largest electronic database for legal and public-records related information. Currently a division of RELX Group, LexisNexis was first a product of the Mead Data Central company, the Anglo-Dutch publishing company Reed Elsevier has owned LexisNexis and its predecessor company since 1994. At its inception in 1970, the database was named LEXIS by Mead Data Central and it was a continuation of an experiment organized by the Ohio State Bar in 1967. On April 2,1973, LEXIS launched publicly, offering full-text search in all Ohio, in 1980, LEXIS completed its hand-keyed electronic archive of all U. S. federal and state cases. The NEXIS service, added that year, gave journalists a searchable database of news articles. LexisNexis world headquarters is located in Dayton, United States, in 1989, MDC acquired the Michie Company, a legal publisher, from Macmillan.

When Toyota launched the Lexus line of vehicles in 1987. A market research survey asked consumers to identify the spoken word Lexis, survey results showed that a nominal number of people thought of the computerized legal search system, a similarly small number thought of Toyotas luxury car division. A judge ruled against Toyota, and the company appealed the decision, Mead lost on appeal in 1989 when the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit held that there was little chance of consumer confusion. Today, the two companies have a business relationship, and in 2002 implemented a joint promotion called Win a Lexus on Lexis. In December 1994, Mead sold the LexisNexis system to Reed Elsevier for $1.5 billion, on April 15,2008, the U. S. The Court reversed and remanded so that the courts could apply the correct test and determine whether Mead. In 2000, LexisNexis purchased RiskWise, a St. Cloud, in 2002 it acquired a Canadian research database company, Quicklaw. In 2004, Reed Elsevier Group, parent company of LexisNexis, purchased Seisint, from founder Michael Brauser of Boca Raton, Seisint housed and operated the Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange.

On March 9,2005, LexisNexis announced the possible theft of information of some Seisint users. It was originally estimated that 32,000 users were affected, affected persons were provided with free fraud insurance and credit bureau reports for a year. However, no reports of identity theft or fraud were discovered to have stemmed from the security breach, in February 2008, Reed Elsevier purchased data aggregator ChoicePoint in a cash deal for US$3.6 billion

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. Established pursuant to Article III of the U.S. Constitution in 1789, it has original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, including suits …

The Royal Exchange, New York City, first meeting place of the Supreme Court

Georgia is a state in the Southeastern United States. It began as a British colony in 1733, the last and southernmost of the original Thirteen Colonies to be established. Named after King George II of Great Britain, the Province of Georgia covered the area from South Carolina south to Spanish …

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Arguably one of the most consequential amendments to this day, the amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws and was …

Senate and House votes on the Fourteenth Amendment

U.S. Senator from Michigan Jacob M. Howard, author of the Citizenship Clause

Representative John Bingham of Ohio, principal author of the Equal Protection Clause

Warren Earl Burger was the 15th Chief Justice of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the St. Paul College of Law in 1931. He helped secure the Minnesota delegation's support for Dwight D. Eisenhower …

William Orville Douglas was an American jurist and politician who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas was confirmed at the age of 40, one of the youngest justices …

William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the Supreme Court of the United States for 33 years, first as an Associate Justice from 1972 to 1986, and then as the 16th Chief Justice of the United States from 1986 until his death in …

Rehnquist portrait as an Associate Justice in 1972

Robes worn by Rehnquist while he presided over the impeachment trial of President Clinton, showing the four yellow stripes he added.

Rehnquist at the National Archives Rotunda in 2003

An ailing Chief Justice Rehnquist administers the presidential oath of office to President George W. Bush at his inauguration in 2005, as First Lady Laura Bush looks on. Note: Rehnquist's addition of the gold stripes on his robes

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the United States, currently used by 30 states, the federal government, and the military. Its existence can be traced to the beginning of the American colonies. The United States is the only Western country currently applying the death penalty. It is one of …

William Kemmler became the first person put to death by an electric chair, August 6, 1890

The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court in the courts of the State of California. It resides in the State Building in San Francisco in Civic Center overlooking Civic Center Square along with City Hall. It also holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Its decisions are …

The Court's headquarters in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building and Courthouse, which it shares with the Court of Appeal for the First District

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th president of the United States from 1969 to 1974. He had previously served as the 36th vice president of the United States from 1953 to 1961, and prior to that as both a U.S. representative and senator from California. — Nixon was …

Nixon (second from right) makes his newspaper debut in 1916, contributing five cents to a fund for war orphans. Donald is to the left of his brother.

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the Federal Government of the United States. The legislature consists of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate. — The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.. Both senators and representatives are …

In 1868, this committee of representatives prosecuted President Andrew Johnson in his impeachment trial, but the Senate did not convict him.

Thurgood Marshall was an American lawyer, serving as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from October 1967 until October 1991. Marshall was the Court's 96th justice and its first African-American justice. Prior to his judicial service, he …

Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law is established by statute, which is to say that the laws …

The Old Bailey in London (in 1808) was the venue for more than 100,000 criminal trials between 1674 and 1834, including all death penalty cases.

LexisNexis Group is a corporation providing computer-assisted legal research as well as business research and risk management services. — During the 1970s, LexisNexis pioneered the electronic accessibility of legal and journalistic documents. As of 2006, the company has the world's largest …

The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits the federal, state, and local governments of the United States, or any other government, or any corporation, private enterprise, group, or individual, from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and …

William Joseph Brennan Jr. was an American judge who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1956 to 1990. As the seventh longest-serving justice in Supreme Court history, he was known for being a leader of the Court's liberal …

Potter Stewart was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from 1958 to 1981. During his tenure, he made, among other areas, major contributions to criminal justice reform, civil rights, access to the courts, and Fourth Amendment …

Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from April 12, 1962 to June 28, 1993.Born and raised in Colorado, he played college football, basketball, and baseball for the University of Colorado, finishing as the …

Harry Andrew Blackmun was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 until 1994. Appointed by Republican President Richard Nixon, Blackmun ultimately became one of the most liberal justices …

Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from 1971 to 1987. Powell compiled a conservative record on the Court and cultivated a reputation as a swing vote …

Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is an unlawful entry into a building or other location for the purposes of committing an offence. Usually that offence is theft, but most jurisdictions include others within the ambit of burglary. To engage in the act of …

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in the State of Texas, United States. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in Downtown Austin, is composed of a Presiding Judge and eight judges. — Article V of the Texas Constitution …

The Texas Supreme Court Building houses the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

The concept of Germany as a distinct region in central Europe can be traced to Roman commander Julius Caesar, who referred to the unconquered area east of the Rhine as Germania, thus distinguishing it from Gaul, which he had conquered. The victory of the Germanic tribes in the Battle of …

Dr.-Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche AG, is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans. Porsche AG is headquartered in Stuttgart, and is owned by Volkswagen AG, which is …

Marco Polo was an Italian merchant, explorer, and writer, born in the Republic of Venice. His travels are recorded in Livre des merveilles du monde (Book of the Marvels of the World, also known as The Travels …

Corte del Milion is still named after the nickname of Polo, "Il Milione".

Mosaic of Marco Polo displayed in the Palazzo Doria-Tursi, in Genoa, Italy

A page from Il Milione, from a manuscript believed to date between 1298–1299.

Paris is the capital and most populous city of France, with an area of 105 square kilometres and an official estimated population of 2,140,526 residents as of 1 January 2019. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of Europe's major …

Pepin the Short was the King of the Franks from 751 until his death. He was the first of the Carolingians to become king.The younger son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude, Pepin's upbringing was …

Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira, was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India was the first to link Europe and Asia by an ocean route, connecting the …

Mount Everest, known in Nepali as Sagarmatha and in Tibetan as Chomolungma, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The international border between Nepal and China …

Aerial photo from the south, with Mount Everest rising above the ridge connecting Nuptse and Lhotse

The name "Mount Everest" was first proposed in this 1856 speech, later published in 1857, in which the mountain was first confirmed as the world's highest

Elizabeth II is Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms.Elizabeth was born in London as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and she was educated privately at home. Her father …

Scarlett Ingrid Johansson is an American actress and singer. Johansson is the world's highest-paid actress, has made multiple appearances in the Forbes Celebrity 100, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She aspired to be an actress from a young age, and first …

Edward Regan Murphy is an American comedian, actor, screen writer, singer, and film producer. Murphy was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984. He has worked as a stand-up comedian and was ranked #10 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest …

Charles Wade Barkley is an American retired professional basketball player who is currently an analyst on Inside the NBA. Nicknamed Chuck, Sir Charles, and The Round Mound of Rebound. Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's most dominant …

The Imperial Regalia of Japan, also known as the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan, consist of the sword Kusanagi, the mirror Yata no Kagami, and the jewel Yasakani no Magatama. The regalia represent the three primary virtues: valor …